S4-Containing hyperbranched polymer modified graphene oxide as strong linker for both rubber and carbon black to enhance the crosslinking and mechanical properties of nitrile butadiene rubber

Abstract

• S 4 -containing hyperbranched polymer modified graphene oxide was synthesized. • It shows strong interaction with both nitrile butadiene rubber and carbon black. • The tensile strength of new composites increased from 8.9 MPa to 17.0 MPa. Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets reinforced rubbers had been well studied. However, it is very difficult to make GO nanosheets uniformly dispersed in the polar nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) matrix and non-polar carbon black simultaneously. The hyperbranched polymer of bis(triethoxysilylpropyl) tetrasulfide (BTESPT) grafted on the GO nanosheet (HSi-GO) has been synthesized through the catalytic condensation of the BTESPT monomer. The as-prepared S4-Containing hyperbranched polymer modified graphene oxide has strong interfacial interaction with both the polar NBR matrix and non-polar carbon black nanoparticles. Excitingly, HSi-GO has greatly improved the tensile strength of NBR/CB composites from 8.9 MPa to 17.0 MPa.